“The Restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood,” Ensign, June 2020
The Restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood
Upon You My Fellow Servants, by Linda Curley Christensen and Michael Malm
On May 15, 1829, John the Baptist gave the Aaronic Priesthood to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. These excerpts of their recollections of that important day show what an amazing event it was.
“The messenger who visited us on this occasion and conferred this Priesthood upon us, said that his name was John, the same that is called John the Baptist in the New Testament, and that he acted under the direction of Peter, James, and John, who held the keys of the Priesthood of Melchizedek.”
Joseph Smith, in Joseph Smith—History 1:72; emphasis added
“As from the midst of eternity, the voice of the Redeemer spake peace to us, while the veil was parted and the angel of God came down clothed with glory, and delivered the anxiously looked for message, and the keys of the Gospel of repentance. What joy! what wonder! what amazement!”
Oliver Cowdery, in Joseph Smith—History 1:71, note; emphasis added